Hitman Delayed to 2016

The next Hitman game has suffered a delay by a few months and will launch in March 2016.

According to developer IO Interactive, Hitman is “the biggest venture” the studio has undertaken both in scope and game content. The extra time will allow for more of that content to be available at launch as Square Enix and IO Interactive are trying something different with Hitman by supporting the game with continuous updates after its release.

“We’re going for a new release model where we put out a good chunk of the game when it beings and then release the remaining locations over time. We want to make absolutely sure you all get the best possible experience when you join, so we’ve made the difficult decision to move the initial release date to March 2016,” IO-Interactive said on its blog.

“These few extra months will mean we can add more to the launch content of the game, more than we had originally planned, and then follow with a tighter frequency of updates, which ultimately will create a better game for everyone. And in the end, that’s what we’re all looking for.”

To give a sense of scale of the new Hitman’s locations, IO Interactive posted an infographic that compares a mission in the new Hitman called Paris Showstopper to the largest level in Hitman: Absolution, Streets of Hope. Paris Showstopper checks in at six times the size of Streets of Hope in size and in potential targets in Contracts Mode.

“Moving a launch date is never an easy decision, we know it’s frustrating to have to wait a bit longer for the game, but we truly believe it will mean we can deliver a better launch and overall experience. We’ll share more details next week about the full release schedule and scope of Hitman in general so keep a look out for that.”